Back in September, a maverick weather forecaster predicted a big freeze towards the end of the year. Those weather headlines sold newspapers, and in part perhaps that's because a dusting of snow at this time of year fulfills our romantic notion of what Christmas should look like.

Long range forecaster James Madden from Exacta Weather...expects "December, January and February to experience below average temperatures, with the heaviest snowfalls occurring within the time frame of November to January across many parts of the UK".